October 23, 2022 2:13 am
The North Strabane Township Fire Department was called out Saturday afternoon to a house fire in the Hendersonville area of the township. According to a post on the fire department’s Facebook page, crews arrived to find a working fire. The fire department says they had the blaze under control quickly. There’s been no word on what may have sparked the blaze or if there were any injuries. (Photo: North Strabane Fire Department FB page)
October 22, 2022 6:23 am
WJPA was tipped to an overnight fire in Washington. The blaze was reported Friday around 11:30 p.m. at an abandoned house at 486 Ewing Street in the West End of Washington. According to Washington County 911, the first responding units reported the house was fully involved with heavy fire showing. Fire units from the City of Washington, as well as South Strabane, Canton Township, North Strabane, and Peters Township responded. Crews were on scene for nearly two and a half hours. No injuries were reported. The state fire marshal was called and is investigating.
October 22, 2022 5:19 am
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – A federal judge has ruled that relatives of people who died in the crashes of two Boeing 737 Max planes are crime victims. The judge’s ruling Friday could help clear the way for the families to challenge a settlement that spared Boeing from criminal prosecution. The judge’s ruling means that the Justice Department should have notified families before privately negotiating a 2021 settlement with Boeing. Judge Reed O’Connor says the next step is deciding what remedies the families should get for not being told of the talks with Boeing. Some relatives want to scrap the settlement.
October 22, 2022 5:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has issued a subpoena to Donald Trump. The nine-member panel sent a letter to the former president’s lawyers on Friday, demanding his testimony under oath by mid-November and outlining a series of corresponding documents. The decision by lawmakers to exercise their subpoena power comes a week after the committee made its final case against the former president, who they say “personally orchestrated” a multi-part effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. It remains unclear how Trump and his legal team will respond to the subpoena, if at all.
October 22, 2022 5:15 am
ST. LOUIS (AP) – A federal appeals court has issued a stay temporarily blocking President Joe Biden’s plans to forgive student loan debt. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued the stay Friday evening. Attorneys for six Republican-led states are asking a federal appeals court to reconsider their effort to block the Biden administration’s program to forgive billions of dollars in student loan debt. It’s unclear what the decision means for the 22 million borrowers who already applied for the relief. The Biden administration had promised not to clear any debt before Oct. 23 as it battled the legal challenges, but the soonest it was expected to begin erasing debt was mid-November.
October 22, 2022 5:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon has been sentenced to serve four months behind bars. He was convicted of defying a subpoena from the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. He’ll be free as he appeals the verdict, however. The 68-year-old was convicted in July of two counts of contempt of Congress: one for refusing to sit for a deposition and the other for refusing to provide documents. Prosecutors had asked the judge in his case to impose a hefty sentence of six months in jail. Bannon’s lawyers argued their client deserved a sentence of probation.
October 22, 2022 3:44 am
Middletown, PA – The Powerball® jackpot is now offering an estimated annuity value of $580 million, or $278.2 million cash, for the next drawing on Saturday, October 22. “This is very exciting because if won, this would be the 10th largest jackpot in the Powerball® game’s history,” said Pennsylvania Lottery Executive Director Drew Svitko. “We’re reminding our players that it only takes one ticket to win, and the proceeds are helping us generate funds for programs that benefit older Pennsylvanians.” The Powerball® jackpot has been rolling for more than two months, and this is the second time this year that a Powerball® jackpot run has crossed the half-billion-dollar mark. In January of this year, tickets sold in California and Wisconsin split a $632.6 million jackpot. The last time a jackpot was won in Pennsylvania was on August 3, 2022. In Pennsylvania, this recent jackpot run has generated more than $44.8 million in sales, creating a profit of more than $17.9 million to benefit older Pennsylvanians. If there is no Powerball® winner in tonight’s drawing, the jackpot for the Monday, October 24 drawing will be an estimated $610 million, or $292.6 million cash.
October 22, 2022 3:40 am
Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh announced Friday the promotion of one prosecutor in his office, and the addition of three other assistant prosecutors. Cassidy Miller Gerstner, who has been with the office since 2015, was promoted to Deputy District Attorney and will prosecute major felonies in addition to her supervisory duties. She had previously been assigned to handle cases in DUI court and the county specialty courts (DUI treatment, drug treatment, mental health, and veterans) and to the general trial list. Walsh also announced the hiring of new Assistant District Attorneys Frank Kocevar, Zachary Moore, and Robert West. All four were sworn-in to their positions Friday by Washington County President Judge John DiSalle.
October 22, 2022 3:33 am
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear an challenge to the state’s mail-in ballot law. The Court’s Order set a very quick briefing schedule, with briefs for both the challengers–Republican parties and their leaders–and the state due early next week. The Court did not schedule argument. The petitioners in the case include David Ball, chairman of the Washington County Republican Party, and the state and national GOP committees. The challenge to the 2019 mail-in ballot law relates to a provision that requires voters to date absentee and mail-in ballots. Previous federal court decisions found that those votes could be counted despite being missing dates, as required under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
October 22, 2022 3:25 am
A Homestead man who traveled from New Castle to deliver drugs to a Washington man will face trial on conspiracy charges of drug delivery resulting in death and possession with intent to deliver. Calvin Ortiz, 33 is accused of selling six pills that were nearly 100% fentanyl to Bradley Remerowski in September of 2020. Remerowski ingested one of those pills causing his overdose death. Testimony came from the co-conspirator in the case Duane Berry. He testified that Remerowski and he were roommates at the Lighthouse for Men halfway house in Washington in 2018. Remerowski contacted Berry looking for drugs since both had relapsed into their addictions. Berry detailed the transaction from Facebook Messenger messages and text messages between him, Remerowski and Ortiz where he played intermediary to get drugs delivered to Remerowski. Berry testified that he is cooperating with authorities in an effort to right the wrong that he caused in Remerowski’s death. The judge held all charges including criminal use of a communications device for court. Ortiz is currently being held in the Washington County Jail. A request for bail was denied. Ortiz will be arraigned at a later date.
